By Akinwale Kasali
For over Nine Years, the whereabouts of about 100, out of 276 students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, remain unknown since they were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014.
The abduction sparked outrage worldwide. activists putting pressure on former President Goodluck Jonathan to rescue the girls.
The pressure was transferred to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and, inspite of the spirited effort and intervention put in by Government to facilitate their freedom 100 of the girls remain missing.
Now, the Northern Christian Youth Professionals has turned their attention to President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to work toward securing the release of the remaining abducted school girls.
In a statement issued in Abuja, on Friday, the Chairman, Northern Christian Youth Professionals, Isaac Abrak, joined Nigerians and the rest of the world to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the schoolgirls’ abduction.
While concluding that the Buhari Government tried its best, by having some of the girls released, Abrak enjoined the president-elect to make the freedom of the remaining captives one of his priorities.
Abrak said, “We remember the pain and trauma that the families and loved ones of the abducted girls have had to endure over the years. Our hearts go out to them on this solemn occasion.
“We commend the outgoing government of President Muhammadu Buhari for securing the release of some of the Chibok girls, but we urge the incoming government, led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu to prioritise the safe return of the remaining girls from Boko Haram captivity.
‘We also urge the incoming government to strengthen security in schools, particularly in Northern Nigeria, to prevent the continued abduction of school children. The recent abduction of 10 school children in Awon community, Kachia Local Government Area in Kaduna State on the 4th of this month is a sad reminder that this problem is still with us,” Abrak sadly noted.
He stressed: “Protecting schools from terrorism will encourage education in the region, which will ultimately empower the minds of our children and youths to reject the falsehoods that foster terrorism in our country. This will naturally weaken and eventually defeat Boko Haram and other forms of terror in our land.
